Gu Jing heard the sounds of water running from the bathroom, and she thought about Zhen Lang’s kickboxer body in the bathtub.
Gu Jing calmed herself, she expected too much of Zhen Lang’s body under his clothes. Although Zhen Lang wasn’t a weakling, she didn’t know if the rest of his body was firm like his shoulders, waist and bottom.
Zhen Lang poked his head through the bathroom door. ‘Little girl, come here and help me.’
‘Um,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing took a deep breath. Then she slowly hopped along a wall toward the bathroom to avoid pressure on her ankle cast.
Inside the bathroom Gu Jing didn’t expect Zhen Lang would bend over and test the temperature of the bathtub water in his clothes.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘I’m thinking about your firm round bottom,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing wanted to slap her cheeks after she carelessly answered Zhen Lang’s question.
‘Is that so? Do you want to touch my bottom?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Gu Jing scoffed. ‘Who wants to touch your bottom?’
Zhen Lang smiled and he pointed at the bathtub. ‘Can you help me take a bath first? If you take a bath first, you’ll get wet after you wash my body then you’ll need to take another bath.’
Gu Jing nodded her head.
‘Why didn’t you use the wheelchair? If you hop around you’ll be tired to death,’ Zhen Lang said.
‘I don’t want to feel like an invalid,’ Gu Jing mumbled.
‘Aren’t you one now?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘I can stand,’ Gu Jing said. She pressed her back against a wall to steady herself. ‘I’ll help you take off your clothes.’
Zhen Lang stood in front of Gu Jing. She slowly took off his s.h.i.+rt and she wanted to rub his firm chest and stomach. She was happy his chest wasn’t like the men on TV with a hairy chest and a beer belly. She swallowed her saliva and her fingers brushed over his chest.
‘The water is getting cold. Have you taken off my s.h.i.+rt yet?’ Zhen Lang said.
‘Oh! Yes!’ Gu Jing said and she quickly took off Zhen Lang’s s.h.i.+rt.
Zhen Lang tucked a loose strand of his wife’s hair behind her ear with his left hand. ‘Are you cold?’
Gu Jing shook her head.
Zhen Lang smiled. ‘If you’re not cold then why is your body trembling?’
Gu Jing didn’t know why her body trembled and why she felt breathless after she touched Zhen Lang’s body.
‘Why aren’t you taking a bath? Didn’t you say the water is getting cold?’ Gu Jing asked.
Zhen Lang pointed at his pants. ‘My pants.’
‘Mmm… ok,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing slowly put her hands on Zhen Lang’s waist. Her hands brushed over his stomach, she felt an electric shock and she retrieved her hands.
‘What is it?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Gu Jing took a deep breath and she ripped Zhen Lang’s pants in half.
Zhen Lang looked at his ripped pants in his wife’s hands and he shook his head helplessly. ‘Is this how you repay someone who saved your life?’
Gu Jing stared at the ceiling. ‘Are you taking a bath or not?’
Zhen Lang laughed softly and he sat in the bathtub. ‘Little girl, scrub my back.’
Gu Jing gripped a wet towel in her hands and she kept her eyes closed. She reasoned that twenty-two years ago she had seen Zhen Lang naked so she didn’t need to be nervous.
Gu Jing opened her eyes. ‘Ah…’
Gu Jing was disappointed Zhen Lang’s back faced her.
‘Are you a peeping tom? Help me wash my hair,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing’s body relaxed. She hung the wet towel over the edge of the bathtub. Then she put shampoo on Zhen Lang’s head and she rubbed the shampoo through his hair. Although she fought with Zhen Lang for many years, it was the first time she washed his hair.
Zhen Lang closed his eyes and he enjoyed the sensation of his wife’s hands rubbing his scalp. ‘Little girl, do you know about my relations.h.i.+p with the old man?’
‘Um,’ Gu Jing said and she continued to wash Zhen Lang’s hair.
‘Do you remember the day the old man chased you and begged you to let him train you?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘Do you mean the day the old man chased me from elementary school to my home? The old man begged my parents and me to let him train me,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing remembered that chicken flapped and dog barked day. She never met anyone as thick face as the old man. Even the princ.i.p.al thought the old man was sincere and the princ.i.p.al wanted to wrap her up and give her to the old man to train. The old man sat in front of her family home for days even on weekends to the point her neighbours thought her family owed him money. But she thought it was strange the old man wanted to train her instead of Zhen Lang.
‘I said to the old man if you let him train you then I’ll let him train me too,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing pulled Zhen Lang’s hair. ‘You were the trouble maker!’
Zhen Lang laughed and he let his wife pull his hair.
Gu Jing held Zhen Lang’s cheeks and she turned his head around to face her. ‘After I let the old man train me, why didn’t I see you train with me?’
Gu Jing thought the old man tolerated Zhen Lang because of her, but she realised the old man let Zhen Lang watch her train so Zhen Lang could secretly learn the old man’s martial arts skills too.
Zhen Lang kissed his wife’s lips. ‘If I trained in front of you then you wouldn’t protect me anymore, and you wouldn’t bully me anymore.’
Gu Jing was used to Zhen Lang’s kisses and she let him kiss her.
‘Honestly I wasn’t interested in training. I only wanted to see you. I know you love being active and I knew you wanted to train. But I was scared you’ll be injured, which was also why my dad-in-law and mum-in-law didn’t want to let the old man train you either. If I don’t let the old man train me then how would I know if your body can cope?’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing felt her heart overflowed with sweetness. ‘Why did you want to follow me? Did you follow me to bully me?’
‘It was you who chose me. If I don’t follow you there’s no one else who’ll want me. Jing Jing, you need to be my maid.’
‘Ah!’ Gu Jing cried out.
Gu Jing lost her balance and she fell into the bathtub. Only her ankle cast stuck out over the edge of the bathtub.
‘My love, what are you doing?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Gu Jing lifted her head above the water and she pitifully choked on Zhen Lang’s bath water.
End of Chapter Forty-Six
